The processing of fruits and vegetables for marketing in various forms still involves a considerable amount of hand labor which adds very significantly to the cost of the finished product. Typically the operations involves may include grading according to size, inspection and sorting of defects such as external spots or internal voids, peeling, quartering, slicing, etc. The labor involved is tedious work which quickly becomes a drudgery; it is slow and time consuming and it requires a relatively large amount of floor space. Furthermore, hand methods are not always as effective as they might be, as, for example, in the case of inspection for internal voids or spoilage in potatoes.
In the interest of reducing the cost of such foods in the marketplace, eliminating the drudgery involved in food processing and producing a better product, it is desirable that a higher degree of automation be achieved in these operations. More specifically, there is a need for automatic equipment with a capability for handling, inspecting and sorting food products such as potatoes in a rapid and efficient manner.